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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24656542">Sanctuary</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snowlynx40/pseuds/Snowlynx40'>Snowlynx40</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sky May Fall [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Lucifer (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ella Knows</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:00:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,441</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24656542</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snowlynx40/pseuds/Snowlynx40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Scenes from Ella and Azrael's friendship. This started as an idea for confrontation scene once Ella found out Azrael is an angel, NOT a ghost as she'd been led to believe. (In a scene from my other story, Sky May Fall.) Second chapter will likely make more sense if you have read Sky May Fall. Work is complete. I have no beta, so all mistakes are on me. If you spot any, please let me know and I will fix or defend them as needed!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Azrael &amp; Ella Lopez</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sky May Fall [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1874491</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>101</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The silence is broken only by the raspy panting of her breathing and the slow agonized squeal of one of the tires that was still barely turning. The sides of the old station wagon press close around her as she dangles upside down, held in place by her lap belt but unable to see to the front of the vehicle where her parents had been laughing just a moment ago.</p><p>"Mami? Papá?" Ella cries breathlessly, struggling to turn and see them. There is no answer, and she desperately tries not to think about why that might be. She can feel her rapid heartbeats pounding in her fingertips, and then a rushing in her ears as darkness wraps around her once more. When she wakes, the awful squealing has stopped and there's a girl with a sad expression below her, sitting on what used to be the ceiling of the car. She's confused for a moment, because she definitely hadn't been in the car with them before. She has short, dark hair, enormous glasses that magnify her expressive eyes, and is wearing a funky assortment of mismatched clothes that the eight-year-old Ella can't help but admire.</p><p>"Who are you? Where did you come from?" She asks groggily. Her head feels a bit achy and fuzzy, like that time Jay dared her to hold a handstand for half an hour and she threw up on his shoes once she stood up.</p><p>"Ummm, hi?" The sad-looking girl seems surprised to be noticed, looking around as though Ella might be talking to someone else. Ella thinks to herself that even her voice sounds a little sad, and wishes she could give her a hug. "I'm, uh, Az- you know what? Call me Rae-Rae. That's what my favorite brother used to call me."</p><p>"Rae-Rae's a funny name." Ella rubs her eyes tiredly.</p><p>"Oh, yeah? What's yours then?" she challenges. </p><p>"I'm Ella. Ella Lopez." The girl twists to look toward the front of the car.</p><p>"Oh, hey Ella, dont turn around just now, okay? Just, um, talk with me for a little bit, huh?" She gives Ella a big smile and starts to reach for her hand but quickly pulls back.</p><p>"My head feels funny. I want my Mami." Tears start to leak from the corners of her eyes and tickle uncomfortably as they trace up her forehead and into her hairline.</p><p>"I know kiddo, but... She's not here. Maybe we can try to get you out of this thing, huh? I don't think humans are supposed to be upside down for this long. Can you reach the ceiling with your hands?" </p><p>Ella's arms are already extended that direction, and with a little stretching, she finds that she can. Rae-Rae instructs her to brace with one hand, unbuckle the belt with the other and brace until her feet meet the ground.</p><p>"Almost like a cartwheel!" Ella declares proudly once she is crouching next to the older girl. Ella has been trying very hard to succeed in a cartwheel for months now. Ricardo has been relentless in teasing her for her inability to perfect it. She starts to launch forward to throw her arms around the older girl at her almost-cartwheel-success, but the other girl flinches away.</p><p>"Yeah, you nailed it, girl!" Rae-Rae applauds awkwardly. "Let's, uh, head toward the back there and crawl out through the window, okay kiddo?"</p><p>"My name's Ella." Ella reminds her, noticing that Rae-Rae has been very careful to keep between her line of sight to the driver's and passenger's seats, and diligently remembers not to think about why that might be. She turns quietly, waddles crouched across the ceiling of the car and squeezes out the shattered back window and into the ravaged grassy ravine where the car rests. Rae-Rae follows after her, and leads her a little distance away before settling down cross legged in the grass. Ella sits nearby with her knees pressed against her chest, tiny arms wrapped tightly around them.</p><p>"What do we do now?" Ella asks quietly, sounding lost. Her fingers worry the shiny cross around her neck that had been a gift from her parents for her eighth birthday, just a few weeks ago. Rae-Rae's eyes are drawn to the movement.</p><p>"Well, I guess now we wait for someone to come and help."</p><p>"My parents." Ella sniffles quietly, her eyes burning. "They didn't make it. Did they?"</p><p>"Ella..." The older girl hesitates. "I'm really sorry, but they didn't. They crossed over safely, and they'll be waiting for you in Heaven, but you can't be with them right now. They love you so much, but they were so happy that you were safe."</p><p>The tears are back now, and Ella sobs into her knees as she rocks herself. Azrael sits in silence and watches her, compassion lighting her dark eyes. Once the initial storm of tears passes and Ella's breathing has almost returned to normal, she peeks up from her huddled position to see Azrael leaning back, staring at the brilliant stars above. Ella copies her, gazing into that infinite velvety blackness sparkling with flickering pinpoints of light.</p><p>"My favorite big brother used to tell me stories about the stars, you know." Rae-Rae says conversationally, her voice still tinged with that ever-present sadness. "How they were created. How they burn, and expand, and collapse. We used to just talk about everything. And nothing. And it was amazing." </p><p>Ella wipes her nose with her jacket sleeve. "You don't talk anymore?" Her voice is quavery, but she seizes the distraction from her overwhelming grief with both hands.</p><p>"Well...no." Rae-Rae shifts uncomfortably. "We kind of, can't talk anymore."</p><p>"Why not? What happened? Don't you miss talking to him?" Ella scoots closer to the strange girl, wanting to offer comfort, but unsure how.</p><p>"Jeez Louise, of course I do! But, I can't talk to him. Because... He had to leave home, and I can't go visit him." Her gaze is fixed on a blue wildflower in front of her left foot.</p><p>"Why can't you visit him? Or why can't he come visit you?"</p><p> "He and my Dad don't get along anymore, so we just can't-"</p><p>"That's not fair!" Ella interrupts, pushing to her feet at the injustice. "You shouldn't have to lose your brother just because of a fight with your dad!" She starts again to offer a hug to the girl, who she is already starting to think of as a friend, but Rae-Rae flinches back again, more violently this time.</p><p>"You're... You're right, Ella, but... It's probably too late now anyway." The last part of that was quiet, probably meant to be aimed at herself.</p><p>"What do you mean too late? What happened?"</p><p>"Uh... I'm a ghost." The last words fall from Rae-Rae's mouth in a burst of speed. Ella's reddened eyes widen until they seem to fill her entire face.</p><p>"You're a ghost? How come I can see you, why can you talk to me?"</p><p>"I'm not sure. You must be special, Ella." A small smile flickers across the young girl's tear stained face. Shouting voices drift to them through the still night air, and red and blue lights start to reflect over the lip of the ravine. "I think your cavalry has arrived, Ella, so I've got to go. I'm glad I got to meet you. Smell ya later, Lopez."</p><p>"Rae-Rae?" The girl whispers, "Thank you for helping me." But when she turns, the ghost is gone.</p><p>************</p><p>The first few months after the accident were full of tears, nightmares, and arguments. The rescuers had launched a search for the girl Ella described to them, but she wasn't found. Abuelita moved into the house with Ella and her brothers and was slowly imposing a new normal over the household. There was a lot less laughing, and a lot more praying now.</p><p>Ella is playing in her room, setting up an obstacle course for the spider that lives in the top pane of her window. She hasn't figured out yet how she's going to get the spider to do the obstacle course, but she saw a movie once that said, "If you build it, they will come," so she wants to test that theory. She hears a soft whooshing noise, and looks up from the tiny balance beam</p><p>"Whatcha doing, Lopez?" A familiar voice asks quietly, and there is Rae-Rae sitting across the course from her.</p><p>"Rae-Rae!" Ella exclaims excitedly, "I was starting to think I wouldn't see you again! I told the rescue people about you, but they couldn't find you!" She launches toward her friend for a hug.</p><p>The girl is suddenly across the room, but gives her a warm smile. "Ghost, remember? You can't touch me. Nobody can see me, and I officially don't exist."</p><p>Ella looks offended. "You exist! You're my friend!" Her chin juts stubbornly. "I didn't care what those doctors said."</p><p>"Doctors? Why, where you hurt in the crash?" Rae-Rae looks anxious</p><p>"I wasn't hurt," her bright eyes darken a little. "But there were four of them. For therapy."</p><p>"Four?"</p><p>"Uh-huh. They kept sending new ones."</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>"I kept biting them." The older girl's eyes widen behind her thick glasses at Ella's matter of fact confession. "They kept telling me you weren't real."</p><p>"Wow, Ella, that's..." The ghost appears lost for words. "That really stinks. Since I'm kind of not real, I guess they're not completely wrong, ya know?"</p><p>"You are TOO real, or else how could you be here talking to me? You wouldn't have a brother if you weren't real."</p><p>"I guess you've got me there," Rae-Rae chuckles. "If Lu is real, then I must be, too."</p><p>"I was thinking about that," Ella leans forward and whispers conspiratorially. "If you want, I can write a letter to your brother for you! Just tell me what you want me to write and I'll mail it for you!" The little girl looks very proud of her solution to her friend's problem.</p><p>"Oh hey, Ella, that's super sweet, but," the ghost's gaze fixes on the tiny spider-size monkey bars in the course. "I don't know Lu's address. I'm pretty sure he doesn't get mail where he is, anyway. What are you building here?"</p><p>Ella's a little disappointed that her letter idea can't help her friend, but gladly launches into a detailed description of Frank the spider and his obstacle course. Rae-Rae asks good questions and pays close attention to the girl's ideas, even offering up some of her own. When Abuelita calls up the stairs that dinner is ready, Ella turns to answer her. When she turns back, a breeze fans her face and her friend has disappeared again.</p><p>"Bye, Rae-Rae. Thanks for coming to see me!" Ella whispers, then heads downstairs, her ponytail bobbing happily behind her.</p><p>*************</p><p>Years pass, and Ella always looks forward to Rae-Rae's occasional visits, chattering on to her family about her ghost friend's observations and jokes. </p><p>Once, Rae-Rae appears in Ella's room and finds her sobbing against her pillow, rubbing her fingers gingerly against raw wrists. </p><p>"Ella, what happened??" The ghost gasps, fingers hovering inches away from the inflamed and rapidly bruising skin. </p><p>"No-Nothing, Rae-Rae, I'm fine!" The 16-year-old girl sits up and begins drying her eyes, knowing her friend can never stay long and not wanting to waste precious time with her only real (if non-corporeal) friend with tears.</p><p>"<em>That</em> is not nothing." The older girl growls, pointing a finger at the raw skin. "<em>Who did this?"</em></p><p>The younger girl averts her gaze to the floor, kicking her feet against the threadbare carpet and Rae-Rae is horrified to see that there are matching abraded marks on Ella's ankles.</p><p>"Abuelita thinks you're a demon, so... She took me to a man. I told him you're my friend, just a ghost, but he didn't believe me, and they tied me up and he did this ceremony. I think they thought you were possessing me, but I didn't like being tied up and I fought and fought..."</p><p>"Your family did this to you?!" Rae-Rae sounds enraged on her friend's behalf, and Ella raises her eyes to meet her gaze. There is a fire there, but also resignation. A feeling of, 'Yes, betrayal is what families do, and what can we do about it?'</p><p>"Because of me. They did this to you because I'm your friend."</p><p>"No!" Ella exclaims, "It's not your fault, Rae-Rae, it's mine! I know they can't see you, and I should know better than to talk about you so much. I just wish they had a little more faith in me, that's all..."</p><p>"Ella?" A querulous voice erupts from behind the door. "<em>¿Con quién hablas?  ¿ Que haces, mija?</em>"</p><p>A panicked look crosses the girl's face and she fires off a quick response, <em>"¡Nada, Abuelita! Solo estuve... Orando."</em></p><p><em>"Orando, eh?"</em> The voice makes a suspicious noise, but doesn't come through the door, and when Ella looks back, her friend has gone. </p><p>A few weeks later, Rae-Rae watches, unseen, as Ella's Abuelita checks her crying and protesting granddaughter into a  mental health facility for troubled teens. Rae-Rae continues to watch as they heavily medicated the girl until her loving, boisterous personality becomes dull and lackluster. Watches as Ella learns to give the answers they want to hear, and keep her secrets behind her shuttered eyes, learns to trust no one.</p><p>Ella finally gets released. More time passes. She starts tagging along with her troublesome older brothers, learning to boost cars and to street race. Rae-Rae's heart becomes heavier as she continues to check on her friend, seeing her going further and further down a path that will lead to Azrael meeting her much sooner than she would like, in a far too work-related fashion. She finds Ella alone in a garage, and decides to risk an actual visit.</p><p>"Rae-Rae! You can't be here!"</p><p>"And yet, here I am?" She tries a mischievous grin and wiggles her fingers at Ella, who now looks nearly as old as she does.</p><p>The lock pops and Ella crawls quickly under the dash to hotwire the 1963 Corvette. The engine roars to life and Ella pops up in the driver's seat. "Don't just stand there, get in! We've gotta scram!"</p><p>Ella looks to the passenger seat and finds her friend there. Grinning, she throws the car into gear and peels out of the garage.</p><p>"What are you doing??" Rae-Rae screams over the roar of the engine and the wind.</p><p>"What's it look like, Rae-Rae? Boosting cars is only fun if you drive 'em <em>really</em> fast!"</p><p>"I... See." The ghost throws a doubtful look at her young friend.</p><p>Ella slides her gaze sideways and gives a reckless laugh. "Oh, c'mon Rae-Rae, I'm not hurting anybody."</p><p> "No, of course not." The ghost nervously laces her fingers together. "But Ella, you're not really <em>helping</em> anyone either. I thought you said you wanted to be a scientist? Do something real?"</p><p>Ella snorts, hearing her naive dreams from her younger self parroted back to her now, as she's behind the wheel of a stolen hot rod.</p><p>"Sure, Rae-Rae, who am I going to help? I can't even help myself." Her fingers worry that same tiny cross, still resting at the base of her throat.</p><p>"Shut the front door, Ella! You're the best, smartest human I know!" </p><p>"Yeah, says the <em>ghost</em> that admits she can't talk to anyone else!" Ella rolls her eyes.</p><p>"Just because I can't talk to live humans doesn't mean I don't meet people, Ella!" Rae-Rae's eyes flash with hurt before she flicks her gaze away, toward the blurring scenery outside the window.</p><p>Ella sighs heavily. "You're killing my buzz, Rae-Rae. Why are you here? I haven't seen you in forever."</p><p>"I just... Miss you, ya know? I've tried not to bother you since the.. what they did to you, because of me.  But I worry about you, I don't want you to follow your brothers and end up somewhere you don't deserve to be. You deserve good things, Ella, but you've got to work for them."</p><p>Ella parks the car at an empty overlook and lets it idle. "What do you mean, you don't want me to end up somewhere I don't deserve to be? Jail?"</p><p>Rae-Rae fidgets uncomfortably. "Well, jail definitely makes the list, but there are worse places."</p><p>"Worse than jail... In Detroit?" Ella snickers, and her friend sighs.</p><p>"Look, Lopez, you know what I am."</p><p>"Yeah..."</p><p>"Just... My situation is not normal, okay? Normally there's only two options, and... Look, I don't want you stuck with the wrong one."</p><p>"You're saying, what, you don't want me to wind up in Hell?" Ella's fingers are back on her cross.</p><p>"That's. Yeah, that's basically it." She twists her fingers in her lap, eyes fixed on the stars just visible through the windshield. </p><p>Ella's gaze follows. "You're thinking about your brother."</p><p>"Yeah. He wouldn't want to see you there either."</p><p>"Your brother is in Hell? Rae-Rae..." Ella reaches for her friend, but not touching is ingrained by now and she aborts the gesture.</p><p>"He has been for...a long time. But I don't want that for you, Lopez, and neither would he. You've got to do something. Your light is too bright to just, let it die." She turns her expressive eyes back to her friend, and suddenly Ella feels like the big sister she's never been. She's got someone she can't disappoint, to be... Responsible to. Even if that someone is already long dead.</p><p>***************</p><p>So, Ella turns around. Mostly. Aside from a short stint counting cards in Vegas ("Hey, gotta pay for college somehow, Rae-Rae!"), she gets her shiz together and gets accepted to the forensic sciences program at Michigan State University, where her bubbly personality and easy warmth pave the way for her to make  lasting connections with the people there. Rae-Rae watches proudly as her friend graduates at the top of her class and secures a forensics position with the Detroit Police Department.</p><p>Ella seems happy, and that makes Azrael's heart happy. Then, in 2016, Azrael notices that her favorite big brother is back on Earth once again.</p><p>*****************</p><p>She heeds the call for an undecided soul needing transport. The girl, a drive-by shooting victim is young and beautiful, and carries more than a little guilt. Azrael stands above the body and holds out her hand, helping the soul to her metaphysical feet. The girl looks down at her body on the ground- and the man's body next to her own, sorrow crossing her delicate features. She meets Azrael's steady gaze. "I promised to turn my life around. To be... Better. But I got him killed, didn't I?"</p><p>Azrael looks down at the second body in time to see his violent gasp as he comes back to himself, and stops herself from catching her favorite sibling in a hard hug only by the barest barbs of her feathers. </p><p>Delilah sees that Lucifer is alive, and while her guilt lessens, it's not enough, and Azrael has to escort her to Hell. No passing Go, no collecting $200.</p><p>Azrael glances back over her wingspan at Lucifer, first gazing with sorrow into Delilah's empty eyes, then marching with righteous fury over to the crashed SUV as she collects the soul for transport, and promises herself she'll come back and talk to Lu soon.</p><p>Azrael does... Come back, at least. She can't quite work up the nerve to speak to her favorite sibling, but she does keep tabs on him, when she's in the neighborhood, which seems to come with distressing frequency now that he's working with this LAPD homicide detective. She was delivering a corrupt cop's soul to Hell when his soul was practically ripped out of her hold. She returned to the hospital, perplexed, and watched her oldest brother Amenadiel walk away from the man's hospital room, where his relieved family was rejoicing in their miracle. It wasn't but a few months later that Lucifer himself was sent to Hell by that same cop, though of course he didn't need an escort. She hadn't even had a chance to leave the premises when she was collecting that same soul again, and this time she kept a tight hold on that skeezy soul until she was chaining the gates of Hell behind it. </p><p>********</p><p>She makes a stop to check on Ella, and risks another personal visit to make a suggestion that she might consider relocating to sunny LA- "After all, Ricardo could definitely use a sisterly eye on him!"</p><p>Stuck in yet another Michigan winter, Ella loses no time in deciding this is a fantastic plan, and while Detroit PD was sorry to lose her, LAPD was thrilled to have someone with her experience and knowledge.</p><p>Azrael watches in silent fits of giggles as Ella gives a <em>very</em> uncomfortable Lucifer an enormous hug the moment she meets him, and at her big brother's pleasantly surprised face as Ella tells him that the Devil gets a bad rap.</p><p>Her blade went missing a few months after that, but she didn't really have time to worry about until she felt the empty hole in her mind where her brother Uriel used to be. Then she put two and two together: that he must have stolen her blade and somehow it had been turned on him. Concerned for her brother on Earth, she visited Lu immediately and watched him sobbing brokenly in their mother's embrace, his bloodied hands gripping the back of her dress. She wondered what had happened for all this to take place, but left quietly, without asking.</p><p>A few months after that, and she felt Lu crossing the veil of death yet again. Exasperated, she goes to check on him in time to spy his demon standing with tears in her cheeks as a tiny blonde woman in scrubs frantically tries to revive Lu's body. Her mother rushes into the room and demands to be sent to Hell to retrieve him, and the demon stops her heart with an electric device. Azrael's attention is caught by a ruckus upstairs and when she investigates she finds her brother's Detective seizing in a hospital room while her brother Amenadiel wreaks havoc among hospital security. </p><p><em>What in Dad's name is going on here?</em> She wonders to herself.</p><p>Just as Amenadiel readies himself for further battle, Lu staggers into the room, shirt flying loose and face haggard, bracing himself with a hand on their brother's shoulder before sharing a profound nod. Amenadiel returns the gesture and they both stand down. Azrael shakes her head, and goes back to work. <em>At least it appears Lu has some friends to watch his back.</em></p><p>*************</p><p>Azrael continues to keep quiet tabs on her brothers and Ella. Poor Lu can't seem to catch a break, and she can't help but wonder what else Dad has in store for him next. She watches as he convinces their Mother not to wage war on Heaven, and encourages Her to go create her own universe. She cringes a bit as he tosses her blade through the rift with the Goddess, but... Well, she never wanted that blade anyway. It's not like she needs it, and obviously she didn't secure it as well as she should have done. Her heart swells with love and pride for her misunderstood brother. Nobody else could have pulled this peaceful resolution out of such a tense situation.</p><p>**************</p><p>"Azrael-"</p><p>She hears Lucifer's voice pursue her as she flees his penthouse, but she doesn't stop. She's said what she came to say and took the opportunity to leave before he could demand that she do so. </p><p>
  <em>Ugh, you're such a coward, Rae. Couldn't speak up when Lu was chained up and cast out, can't even stay to let him have his say now.</em>
</p><p>But she watches as Lucifer gets into his car and drives to the precinct where he and Ella work together. Watches as he approaches and enters her lab where she's bent over her microscope, and her heart swells as Ella's face lights up with the questions he asks her, unfolding under his unwavering interest.</p><p>
  <em>That's my favorite brother.</em>
</p><p>Smiling, she turns away. She's got work to do.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p>Lucifer's warm voice reaonates down the celestial link into her head.</p><p>
  <em>Azrael, sister, I feel I should warn you... Miss Lopez is now aware of just who... And what... You are. Well, what we both are. She's handling it quite well, but I fear you may be in for an earful for your little "ghost story".</em>
</p><p>She can feel his amusement at her expense, and she rolls her eyes. She'll have to visit Ella as soon as she can steal a free moment.</p><p>
  <em>It's not like I can put the awkward conversation off for a few millenia like I did with Lu...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>************</em>
</p><p>She stops to check on Lucifer before heading to Ella's. His voice had echoed with exhaustion through their angelic link, and she was concerned.</p><p>She snorts softly to herself when she finds her brother passed out in his bed with his blonde detective curled possessively around him, but quickly grows more concerned when she glimpses the angry red scar where the sheet has ridden down his ribcage, the residual bruising faded, but certainly still present. The exhaustion she had noticed in his voice is even more evident in his sleeping face, in the pain lines around his eyes and the deep bags beneath them. Clearly she's missed something.</p><p>She decides not to wake him, but makes a decision to see if Ella might still be awake.</p><p>Azrael briefly considers landing outside her door and knocking, but figures that it's a bit late to build that habit now. It's not like a ghost friend is any less supernatural than an angel friend, right?</p><p><em>If... As long as I'm still a friend at all.</em> Her heart sinks into her stomach at that thought as she lands in Ella's living room. The lamp beside the couch is on, but Ella is nowhere to be seen. Azrael can hear the shower running, and settles in to wait. </p><p>After about 15 minutes, the water shuts off and Azrael grins to herself, listening to Ella apologize to a disgruntled Margaret. </p><p>
  <em>"Lo siento, pero necesitaba usar la ducha. Hacemos esto todos los días. ¡Es todo tuyo ahora!"</em>
</p><p>A few minutes more, and Ella emerges from the bathroom in an oversized sweatshirt proclaiming "If you're rich, I'm single" and a loose pair of sweatpants, her hair wrapped up in a towel and a pair of large, fogged glasses on her face.</p><p>"Hey, Lopez." Azrael forces her voice into nonchalance, and Ella freezes in her fumbling toward the bedroom.</p><p>"Rae-Rae!" She whips around and stumbles toward the sound of her voice, before giving up and pulling off her glasses and giving them a quick polish to remove the too-slowly dissipating steam. "I'm so glad you're here!"</p><p>Her heart loosens its vice grip on her throat, and she's able to swallow comfortably. "Well... A rather tall, white-winged birdie gave me a heads up that you'd had a recent revelation... And I wanted to make sure you were okay."</p><p>Ella smiles tentatively at her friend. "Oh, you mean the dark-headed <em>Satanicus perforatus</em>, native to Lux?"</p><p>"One and the same. Very chatty, quite the trick to get him to shut up?"</p><p>Ella giggles until she snorts. "Seriously though, Lopez, I stopped to see him on my way here, and he looks like a goose that got run through a jet engine. What <em>happened</em>?"</p><p>Ella gives her an evaluating look. "Rae-Rae, we need to have a conversation. If I tell you about Lucifer, are you going to disappear after you find out what you want to know?"</p><p>Azrael gives her friend a shy smile. "Ella. I know you're gonna have a billion questions for me, and you're probably going to want to yell at me quite a bit, too. I can't stay forever, I'm a busy gal, but I can spare enough time to catch up on my favorite brother AND my favorite human."</p><p>Ella's eyes remain narrowed as she weighs that statement, then her normal sunny smile breaks through. "Okay, then. Do you eat? Lucifer eats, like, EVERYTHING, but of course I've never seen you eat. Because this conversation is gonna require ice cream. And chocolate."</p><p>Requisite sweets obtained and rationed, Ella proceeds to fill in Azrael about the happenings of the last few days. Azrael had known Lucifer had gone back to Hell, of course- the soul transfers always go more smoothly when its King is in attendance, though she knows how much he hates it there. She can feel her eyes getting larger and larger as Ella heaps more and details into the story- Azrael hadn't any idea about Lu's vulnerability around this detective, and the idea of nearly losing him to a demon blade wound hits her hard. Ella spots the tears welling up in her eyes, and reaches toward her, then stops as always. The two women look at each other across the table, and suddenly Ella throws her arms around her best friend's neck and squeezes for all she's worth. </p><p>Azrael sits, just as frozen as Lucifer was the first time she watched Ella hug him. She can understand why... The sensation is overwhelming, like... Being enveloped in wings. Their family isn't demonstrative, but that doesn't make the feeling any less pleasant. Azrael lifts her arms and gingerly pats Ella's back, and the other woman breaks away laughing. </p><p>"That's it. I'm holding a clinic. Hugging 101 for Angels. You, Lucifer, and Amenadiel are all required attendees. I can totally see the family resemblance now...." The sentence trails off, as a new thought presents itself. "You used to tell me about Lucifer sometimes, didn't you? You never used his full name.. but he's the one. Your favorite, the one you weren't allowed to talk to. Isn't he?"</p><p>"That's him. We're the odd ducks in a family of odd geese. Both of us assigned jobs that we didn't really want, that keep us far busier than the rest of our siblings. I mean, my job isn't anything to sing about, but Lu... He really got the short end of the stick. It's really no wonder he went full rebellion on Dad. I just..."</p><p>"Just what, Rae-Rae?"</p><p>"I just wish I'd spoken up for him. Stood beside him, anything. I did... I did nothing, Ella. I just watched, I was frozen. They chained him, broke his wings, and threw him down, and I didn't even go after him. To check if he was okay." Her eyes are welling again, and this time the tears refuse to be contained. Ella leans back in and squeezes her shoulders.</p><p>"I think that's a conversation you'll need to have with him someday, but here are two things I know about Lucifer. One: he doesn't hold a grudge. Except for your Dad, I guess... But Jeez Louise, Amenadiel flat out tried to have him killed, and he forgave him." Azrael's eyes get even larger at that, which she didn't think was possible at this point. "And two: you were right. All those years ago, when you came to talk to me about the path I was on. Lucifer wouldn't have wanted me to wind up in Hell. And he wouldn't have wanted that for you, either. I can nearly guarantee that he isn't angry with you for not siding with him and sharing in his punishment. If anything, he's incredibly hurt that you, that<em> no one</em> reached out to him for thousands of years." Ella's own eyes are starting to tear up now, and her voice feels tight with emotion but she manages to get them under control.</p><p>Azrael smiles at her friend. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Lopez. First brave enough to be friends with a ghost, now saving the devil's life and helping me repair my relationship with my favorite brother. You really are special."</p><p>"Oh, worry not, my friend. You're going to earn your forgiveness by answering ALL MY QUESTIONS." Ella grins back. Her face falls a bit as Azrael's face takes on the 'listening' that always heralds an imminent departure. "But I think we're good for now. At least I know Lucifer can get in touch with you, so I can have him sing Weird Al at you if you don't visit often enough!"</p><p>Azrael turns a mock horrified face toward her friend. "You wouldn't."</p><p>Ella cocks an eyebrow. "Wouldn't I?" She turns to place their dishes in the sink, and when she turns back, the angel is gone. Shaking her head, she smiles and whispers to herself, "Some things never change."</p>
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